Celebrities Losing Millions on Their Multi-Million-Dollar Homes

Celebrities who bought homes during the housing boom aren’t having any easier time selling than the average homeowner. And when stars have to lower asking prices on multi-million-dollar homes, they are often taking multi-million-dollar baths.

“High-profile celebrities who have chosen to put their homes on the market within the past six months have almost all had to reduce their asking price,” Corcoran Group Real Estate president Barbara Corcoran tells Foxnews.com.

California and New York, where many celebs live, are among the hardest hit states, adds Martin Horner of the Chicago design firm Soucie Horner, Ltd. “California has seven of the top 10 worst hit markets, with Los Angeles the worst at 11 percent down over 2008.”

On multi-million-dollar homes, an 11 percent decrease can equal millions of bucks. And the longer mansions sit on the market, the more likely it is that “the celebrity will [lower their asking price] in order to unload,” says Corcoran.

Despite Corcoran's advice to wait out the slump, several stars, including Britney Spears, Denise Richards, Shaquille O’Neal, Christina Aguilera and Avril Lavigne, have put homes on the market, and all have slashed their initial asking prices significantly.

Where some stars differ from the average seller, however, is in their ability to absorb a loss.

“High-end celebrities are people who can afford to be discretionary,” says Roger Ewing, owner of Ewing & Associates in California, who represents both Spears’ Beverly Hills property and Richards’ Hidden Hills home. “They are going to do what they need to do whether the market is cooperative or not. We have Denise Richards' home for sale, and it’s been on the market for awhile. But she isn’t waiting to sell, and has moved on with her plans to move to her new home.”

Another celebrity "problem" is that many renovate their homes so specifically, to extravagant tastes, that they render their homes practically unsellable.

So as fun as it is to have private rooftop helipads and solid gold kommodes, in this economy, extravagant accoutrements don’t hold a lot of value, and add up to even bigger losses.